Power Rangers: After the Fall
by Jameson Meylar
Summary: Told from the POV of Adam Park, this story tells of a world where the Machine Empire has taken over. Adam joins a resistance and fights to save the world. It's twists and turns galore, as "Power Rangers: After the Fall" presents a story of war, comradery, and apocalypse.
1. Prologue

It's just another horrible day. The machines look at us. They mock us. They beat us. We're lower than bugs to them. It's just another horrible day, except for one difference. Today, I'm getting out of here.

I've been planning this for a while. A few of us have, actually. Every day, we watch the cogs patrol the camp. We watch their exact patterns. That's the thing about machines; they're programmed. That may be our only advantage. We'll probably lose some people during the breakout, but we can afford to lose a few. I hate to think like that, but do I really have a choice? The world has gone to hell. Zordon has been dead since 1998. It's hard to stay positive about things.

I'm not the only one who feels this way, though. Skull lost his wife to the machines, so he and Spike aren't as funny as they once were. Bulk feels the same way, since he's an old family friend. Seeing as she and I used to serve as rangers together, I was hurt when they killed her, too.

Quite a few rangers have been killed, while others have gone underground. I haven't seen any rangers in years. After all, I'm the only one at this camp. When I'm out of here, I'm hoping to find some other rangers to help me reclaim the planet. It's our only hope.


	2. Help

It's the middle of the night. Me, Bulk, Skull and Spike are in our places. While the cogs are looking away, we slowly sneak toward the watch-tower. When we get there, we hide behind the flood-lights. Bulk sets one explosive, which we made, at the base of the watch-tower, as the rest of us pull guard. When the explosive is set, we sneak toward the cots that we're supposed to be sleeping in.

Five minutes pass, as we pretend to be asleep, before Bulk presses a button on a remote and detonates the explosive. At that time, several machines rush to the watch-tower, and we think we're all clear to go. We didn't realize that cogs would surround us and make sure we stayed in our cots. It seems like it's all over, until we see a grenade fall on a group of machines and take them down. It seems to be an EMP, because it makes the entire machines freeze up.

Next, there's an explosion that's followed by a big hole in one of the walls. Several people run through the hole, with all sorts of weapons. I don't recognize any of them, but I don't really care. They seem to be here to help.

These people are storming the camp, destroying every machine they see. It's obvious that they've done this before. Me and some others decide to join in. I grab a shank that I carved and stab into the soft neck of a cog, taking it down. One cog comes up from behind and grabs me. I grab its hands and turn myself around in its grasp, just before kicking it away. As I kick it, while holding its arms, the arms rip off. I don't remember these things being so fragile.

The fight ensues until every machine is down. We get together and stack up the corpses of the people we lost, counting as we go. We lost four people. Considering how intense the fight was, four isn't bad. It's sad to see fallen humans in a time like this, but four really isn't bad compared to what it could have been.

I'm approached by the man who appears to be the leader of this group. He reaches out to shake my hand. "Thanks for the help." He says.

"Help? You guys were the ones helping us." I reply, as I shake his hand.

"Regardless of all of that, it's great to see that we're not the only humans who will still put up a fight."

"Well, we were planning on busting out of the place tonight. Things didn't go according to plan." I shrug.

"They usually don't." He pulls out a cigarette and lights it. "Want one?" he asks, extending an unlit cigarette to me.

"No thanks." I say, "I don't smoke."

He takes a long drag off of the cigarette and exhales in a manner that I can only describe as euphoric. "The name's Bill Mitchell, by the way. I lead this group. We call ourselves Bio-Preserve Rangers."

"I'm Adam Park" I say nodding with a slight smile on my face, "I love the group name."

Our conversation is cut short when one of Bill's men runs up to him and says "Captain! We got a call from one of our scouts, out in Stone Canyon. He found something that you're going to want to see."

"Tell him to meet us at the DeSantos Tai Kwan Do Academy, at0800 hours." Bill says. "Adam, we have to go. If you need a safe place to stay, a friend of mine has a safe-house hidden beneath the Angel Grove Youth Center."

"I want to go with you." I say, with a stern look on my face.

"That's fine with me. We've got some spare body-armor and weapons, in one of our trucks."

"Thanks." I say, to which he nods, smiling. I look around and see Bulk. I tell him about the safe-house and that I'm going with Bill.

"Stay safe, Adam." He says.

"Take care of everyone, Bulk." He nods and smiles. We shake hands and part ways.


	3. Rangers of Mass Destruction

I was given body-armor and weapons by Bill's group. The body armor had a strange blue symbol that looked like a Y with an upside-down Y on it. That symbol was also on a red, side-arm blaster that I was given. There was something strangely familiar about all of this.

After I'm loaded up, we get in some vehicles and head to Stone Canyon. We arrive there, early in the morning. Our destination is Rocky's old dojo. Having helped him build it, it was sad to see that it had become nothing more than a safe-house for human rebels; not to mention the fact that this is the city I was born and raised in, until I was 16. The city is almost as bad as Angel Grove. Not a single building is completely intact. There are random fires in streets and on buildings. The broken roads are stained with dried up blood and God knows what else. I'm beginning to think that we're out of luck.

I get out of the truck and walk to the dojo. Bill tells me that he has to meet with his scout, in the office room. I stay outside and watch the sun come up. It's hard to see the sun through the smog that fills the air. I cherish what little bit that I can see, before Bill runs outside of the building and tells us all that we have to get to our base and prepare. I'm worried, but all I can do is listen to orders and get in the truck.

We drive to a mountain, in the desert. When we get there, a door on the side of the mountain opens up and we drive inside. We park and get out. Bill stands in front of everyone and puts his hands behind his back.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he begins to say, "my scout has informed me of some terrifying news. In order to explain this, I must first tell you of a little bit of history. Throughout the years, there have been a few attempts at replacing the Power Rangers with machines. Not all of these attempts happened on our planet. However, every attempt was scrapped, for one reason or another, and the machines were thought to be destroyed." Bill takes a deep breath and I see fear on his face. "My scout saw Machine Empire officers field-testing the machine Rangers. He saw ten of them. I've had first-hand experience with some of them, and can tell you that they're more powerful than anything that the Bio-Preserve Rangers have ever faced. Without the morphing grid, we're facing mass destruction like we've never seen."

I hear a man speak up. "Captain Mitchell, sir, is there anyway we can stop them?"

Bill sighs and says "There may be a chance, but we're running out of time. You see, the Power Rangers have proved, in the past, that they have a fighting spirit unlike any other. Even without their powers, they've proved to be the world's greatest heroes. If we can find some of the Power Rangers and get their help, then we may have a fighting chance. We have to get this done before the Machine Empire decides to build more machine Rangers, and possibly gets their hands on zords."

I have to speak up. "Captain Mitchell! I'm a Power Ranger." I say.

He looks directly at me. "I know, Adam. So is my scout, and three other people in this room. I keep a dossier on all of the rangers. I don't want anyone to feel obligated to do anything. Just know that your entire species; your entire planet needs your help."


	4. Dig

Three people, two men and one woman, walk up to Bill and face all of us. "We're Power Rangers", the woman says. "I'm Taylor Earhardt-Meyers. This is my husband Eric, and his best friend Wes Collins." As she says this, she points to her husband, who is at her right, and his friend, who is at her left. I walk up to them and face everyone. As I do so, the other Rangers smile and nod.

"We WILL find some other Power Rangers and defeat the machines. This is our home and we're taking it back." I say, before turning around and facing Bill, who is nodding. He tells everyone to get some food, but stops me and the other Rangers before we can walk away.

"Rangers," he says "I have a special mission for you." We all look at him. "I need you to go to the NASADA Space Hangar and get something for me."

"Shouldn't we be searching for other Rangers?" Eric asked.

"Trust me on this, Eric. We NEED what is at that hangar. The others will search for more Rangers. We're heading out to Reefside, this afternoon. I have a contact there, and she may be of some use to us."

"Reefside? An old friend of mine lives there." I say.

"I know." Bill says. "Believe me, Adam, I've tried to reach Tommy. Nobody knows where he is."

Wes puts his hand on my shoulder, as I look at the ground in sadness. "We'll find him. We have to."

Bill hands Taylor the keys to a vehicle, and then points to what looks like a garage door. "In there is a tunneling vehicle that you'll use. For the most part, it operates like a jet." Bill salutes us and we return the salute.

We go to the vehicle and get inside. Taylor starts it up as Eric punches in the coordinates. Before we know it, we're moving. We're moving FAST. Not for long, though. Something blocks out path, and I realize what it is. It's Drill Master; a machine me and the other Zeo Rangers battled. Traylor goes straight at it, with full forces, while launching missiles at it. These missiles cut through the dirt and blow up as soon as they hit Drill Master. We keep going and get attacked from behind. We don't stop, no matter how much Drill Master throws at us. We keep going until we get to the NASADA Space Hangar.

We get there, cut straight to ground level, and get out. Drill Master is still following us. We pull out our blasters and start firing at the machine. Nothing seems to work. I turn my blaster into a baton, which is an awesome thing about this kind of blaster, and stack Drill Master. Sparks fly, but nothing happens. It stands there, mocking us. Just when we're out of ideas, we hear someone shout "Take cover!" We jump inside of an armored room, and duck. As we do so, we hear a loud explosion, followed by that same voice saying "That did the trick."


	5. Old Friends

We exit the room and see a man wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses. He's holding a large, blue weapon of some sort. Eric and Wes smile and run up to him. "Joel!" Wes shouts at him.

Joel lowers his sunglasses and says "What are you guys doin' here?"

"Captain Mitchell sent us to get something for him. He said we'd know it when we saw it." Eric says.

I point to Joel's weapon and say "Would it be that?"

"The rescue bird? Maybe, but I'm not sure. I know someone who probably knows." Joel touches a comm. device on his ear and says "Angela, the Captain sent some Rangers to pick something up. None of us know what it is, though. Any clues?" After a moment, Joel nods and says "Uh huh? Yeah, that sounds like something he'd need. I'll get it for 'em." He takes his finger off of his ear and says "Follow me, guys."

We follow him to a heavily armored building, about the size of my old command center. He punches a code into a key-pad. This opens a little panel, which has a key-hole in it. Joel sticks a key into the hole and turns it. He grabs a handle and pulls, revealing a vault lock. He turns the vault lock and opens the door. We all walk through the door.

"Is that a space shuttle?" I ask.

"That's the Max Solar-zord." Joel says. "It runs on solar power. Seeing as the machines all-but blocked out the sun, it doesn't really run. That's obviously not what the Captain needed. If he wants something that can help him in the rebellion, then he's probably wanting these." He opens a weapons cache and steps aside. "These are V-Lancers. Originally, only five were made. My wife and some other brainiacs made a whole load of the things. The originals drew their power off of the Morphing Grid. These were made to bypass that or some…" Joel is cut off by a loud, crashing sound.

We run outside and see some sort of aircraft, which isn't much larger than a charter bus, crashed into the ground. Joel aims the Rescue Bird at the ship, and we all follow suit with our blasters. As we slowly approach the ship, we see the top of it open up and a man climb out. He's wearing some sort of black space suit, with a ruby near his heart. There's something familiar about him.

He gets to one knee and holds up his hands, telling us not to shoot. Joel walks a little closer to him and says "Who are you and what the hell are you doin' here?"

He takes off his helmet and my eyes get wide. "Billy?" I ask. "Is that you?"

He coughs and says "Adam, I need medical attention."


	6. Phantom

We rush to his side. He reaches up and grabs my arm. "Adam" he says "the ruby in my chest…" he breathes heavily "take it out and replace it with the one in the pouch that is on my left thigh. Hurry!" As soon as I take it out, Billy starts to turn to stone. I grab the ruby from his pouch and shove it in the hole in his chest. Billy jolts up, gasping for breath. "Thank you." He says, just before passing out.

We rush him to a med room and Angela hooks him up to an IV. When he wakes, I look down at him.

"Billy, are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, man. Thanks to you." He says.

"What's going on? What's with the suit? What's with the ship? What's with the ruby?"

He sits up and says "After spending about a year on Aquitar, myself and Cestro went on a mission to a planet called Phantus. We were sent to retrieve a special plant that is supposed to cure a deadly disease. When we were there, an army of soldiers from the United Alliance of Evil were attacking a village. Naturally, we rushed to their aid. Something happened, though. You see, Cestro could morph, but I couldn't. He was protected from the blades and blasts. I wasn't. I was almostdestroyed. A doctor came to my aid and helped me, before the worst could happen. He treated most of my wounds with basic medicine. There was something wrong with my heart, though. He had to use a special ruby that had healing effects. This was the first time he had ever used this on a human, so the side effects were unknown. The ruby fused with my genetics and became necessary for my life. When it is removed, I turn to stone. There was one good side effect. It gave me the ability to bend light around my body, essentially becoming invisible. The ruby worked until the morphing grid was destroyed. Somehow, it fused to my ranger powers and died with them. Cestro was forced to create a multitude of synthetic versions of the ruby. He did it, as soon as the original started to have moments of failure. Each one only works for 90 days. As soon as they start failing, my muscles start to fail and I'm barely able to move."

My eyes get wide and I shake my head. "This is insane. What brought you here, if you're in rough condition? Shouldn't you stay on Aquitar?"

"Myself and Cestro have been working on a way to bypass the morphing grid. I had to get here, as soon as I could. I was told that there's a scientist at this facility who has worked with the morphing grid."

Angela walks over to Billy and says "That would be me."

Before the conversation could continue, Joel gets a call on his comm. device. He listens and nods. He then looks at me, Wes, Taylor, and Eric. "Guys," he says "Captain Mitchell needs you to rush back to the base with the V-Lancers. We better go load them up, and let the braniacs figure out this morphing grid stuff."

We rush to the weapons, load all of the weapons caches onto the vehicle, get in, and take off.


	7. Believe

We get back to base and exit the vehicle. A group of men and women arrive and unload the caches, as Captain Mitchell greets us.

"Rangers," he says "I'm sorry that I had to call you back so quickly, but something came up." We nod and shrug, not really minding. "My contact at Reefside told me something that I thought you should hear in person." He takes a deep breath. "I have reason to believe that Tommy and his wife, Katherine, are dead."

I interject by saying "How? What reason do you have?!"

"I understand your pain, but you need to let me finish, Adam." he says

"Yes sir."

"Their home was found completely ransacked and the black dino gem was found in pieces. Their kids are nowhere to be found."

"Maybe they're just in a concentration camp, like I was."

"Maybe they are, but it's not likely. The closest concentration camp to Reefside is Angel Grove, and that's roughly two hundred miles away. The concentration camps that we've freed have been full of people from within twenty miles of their respected cities."

Wes puts his hand on my shoulder and says "It'll be okay, man."

Eric looks at the Captain and says "Any other news from Reefside?"

"There is, actually. Four rangers are active and defending the city. They're making sure that it remains a safe haven."

"How are four people defending the city, without the morphing grid?" Taylor asks.

I speak up. "Civilian powers." I simply say, before seeing her look at me weird. "The dino gems give them special powers that don't use the morphing grid."

"Is there a way we can get some of these powers?" Taylor asks.

Captain Mitchell says "Not that we know of, but Joel told me what Billy told you. If they can really bypass the morphing grid and figure out a way to get you guys morphed, then we'll stand a much bigger chance than we do now. Until then, let's just be happy that there are still more rangers fighting the good fight. Now, we need to get the four of you to spar with some of our other soldiers, with those V-Lancers." He waves a soldier come to us and says "Get these four , as well as twenty of our best fighters, to the training room. I want you and them to practice the with V-Lancers." The soldier salutes him and motions for us to follow him.

We're almost out of the room, when I hear a soldier run up to Captain Mitchell and say "Captain! The Oracle! She's awake!"


	8. Training

We get to the training room. All 24 of us line up along the wall and the soldier who brought us in here walks in a straight line and talks to us.

"Listen up!" he says "I am Staff Sergeant Marcus Truman, and it is my job to train you to use the V-Lancer." He picks up a V-Lancer. "THIS is the most advanced personal weapon that we have. YOU are the best soldiers that we have. Once you are trained with these, you will be our special forces. Pick up your weapon and stand ready for training."

We walk over to the caches and pick up V-Lancers, then we hold them in an upright position. SSgt. Truman gives us a demonstration of the weapon. It's different than your usual melee weapon and rifle. It has many uses, which he shows us. After about thirty minutes of demonstration, which included us mimicking his movements, he looked at Eric.

"Meyers!" he says "Show me what you got." He gets in a fighting stance, with the V-Lancer, and Eric walks out to him and does the same. They spar until Eric is knocked to the ground. SSgt. Truman motions for me to come out and spar with him. I do, and he eventually beats me. The same goes for several more of us, including Wes and Taylor. "You people sicken me! You call yourselves soldiers? If you can't beat me, then how about each other?" He smirks. "We're going to have us a tournament. Get in line!"

Two-by-two, we fight in a bracket-system. Eric makes it to the final round and puts up a very good fight. The fight lasts for about fifteen minutes, which is about twice as long as most of the fights. Eric is taken down, when his V-Lancer is knocked out of his hand and his opponent sweeps his legs. The fight ends and SSgt. Truman smiles. He walks up to the winner.

"Good job, Stanton! You just beat the Quantum ranger. That's no easy feat..." he pauses, looks at Eric, and then looks back at Stanton. "Trust me. Your father would be very proud."

Stanton nods and says "With all due respect, Staff Sergeant, you didn't know my father."

"I know he was one of best soldiers our world ever..."

"He abandoned me, my sister, and the whole damned planet!" Stanton walks away, angrily.

I run up to him and say "Stanton! Wait up!" He stops and looks at me.

"What do you want?" he says.

"I just wanted to tell you that I was very impressed with your work. The only person I've ever seen fight like that is a guy named Tommy Oliver."

"Never heard of him, but thanks. My father put me and my sister in military school, while he left the planet with Terra Venture. I was the top of my class."

"That's awesome! Do you ever hear from him?"

"No. I haven't heard from him since before Terra Venture left. Anything else, Park?"

"No, and you can call me Adam." I reach out my hand for a shake, but he just looks at my hand and back at my face.

"Call me Dillon." he says, just before walking away.


	9. Blue

I walk head out to the wash room and get a shower. It's the first one I've had in I don't know how long. Even though most of the water is cold, I'm in a pure state or nirvana. It doesn't hurt that a few beautiful women are showering in here, too. Anyway, I get out of the shower, dry off, get dressed, and head back to the main room. I see Captain Mitchell standing in his office, which has a big window and looks over the main room. He looks at me and motions for me to come see him. I do exactly that.

When I get to his office, I see something interesting on a screen. I see the Blue Senturion, on his motorcycle, being attacked by cogs. He's blasting at them and speeding through the desert. Captain Mitchell speaks up. "Adam, we may have a problem. If the cogs follow him here, the war may be lost."

"So you need me and some others to go and help him out?" I ask.

"Exactly, but I need it to be discreet and contained. I want you, the other rangers, Marcus, and Dillon to get V-Lancers and head out there. Tell no one but those five."

"Yes, sir." I say, before leaving.

I round everyone up and we all get in a Humvee, though Dillon is very hesitant. When we get out to where the Senturion is, we park and get out. He zooms to us and stops. He gets off of his motorcycle and and turns his blaster into a sword, just before attacking cogs. We join in with the V-Lancers. As we do this, we see some cogs heads explode, occasionally leaving sticks on the ground.

The battle goes on for about fifteen minutes and I pick up one of the sticks. I realize that it's the shaft of an arrow. I look around as the Blue Senturion speaks to me. "Thank you, Adam...and everyone else."

"You're welcome." I say. "I don't think that we're the only ones who were helping, though."

"You weren't!" says a voice, which seems to be coming from the top of a cliff. Three figures walk to sight, toss ropes down, and repel from the cliff to the ground. They're wearing blue body armor and tactical masks.

"Who the hell are you?" Eric asks.

"We're the blue crew." One of them says, removing his mask. As he does so, I can't help but smile.

"Justin Stewart! Long-time, no-see." I say. "It's good to see that you're still alive."

"Same goes to you, Adam. Who are these guys?"

"Eric, Wes, and Taylor..." I say gesturing to each of them as I name them off "Are veteran rangers, like us. Dillon and Marcus are two of the best soldiers in the Bio-Preserve Rangers."

"Bio-Preserve Rangers?"

"It's a large resistance group. Who are these two?"

They remove their masks. "Don't tell me you don't recognize me." the seemingly eldest one says.

"TJ!"

"In the flesh! This is Kevin." he says, gesturing to the other man. "He's a veteran blue ranger."

"I hate to rush the reunion, but shouldn't we be getting back to base before more machines arrive?" Wes says.

"Good idea." I say. "I'd love it if you guys joined us."

Justin looks at the other guys and they all nod. Justin whistles and Storm Blaster speeds to him. "Still faithful, after all these years." Justin says, getting in the divers seat.

We all get ready and go.

When we approach the base, Marcus rolls down his window and tells Blue Senturion to go on in, so we can make sure that nothing has followed us. He heads inside and we wait a few minutes.

"Why aren't we checking outside, Marcus?" I ask.

"We're going to head in through a secret entrance. I don't want metal to know where it is." he says.

"He's an ally. Why does it matter that he's a machine?"

"First off, IT; not HE. IT can be reprogrammed and can find out secrets. IT has to be kept on a short leash."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever you say, Sarge."

We, and the Blue Crew, enter through the secret entrance and park the vehicles. I take the Blue Crew and Blue Senturion to see Captain Mitchel. He smiles when he sees them all.

"I expected one Blue ally, but ended up with four. This is the best news I've gotten in a while." he says

"Captain Mitchell, sir, I'd like to introduce myself." Justin says.

"I already know who you are, Justin Stewart. I also know who Theodore Johnson and Kevin Brown are. It's good to see three blue rangers working together."

"Thank you, sir. We call ourselves the Blue Crew. There are other teams like us. The Pink Tank, Green Machine, Black Out, Yellow Jackets, Code Red, and Sixers are spread throughout the country. We don't know who is on every team, though. We've had brief radio contact with them, using a special frequency that was designed by Billy Cranston, in the 90's. We've lost contact with them, though."

"We can try to establish contact with them. Billy recently arrived back on Earth and is at the Nasada hangar. He may be able to help us out. Right now, you guys should get some food. Adam, take them to the mess hall. I have to have a word with the Blue Senturion."


	10. Where Were You?

I lead them to the mess hall and get some food, myself. Given our limited resources, the food is amazing. We sit down and eat. The blue crew eats so fast that it's obvious that they haven't eaten much, in quite some time.

"So," I start to say "Where were you guys when they took over?"

Justin sighs and says "I was a on a SWAT team and we were doing a big drug bust. In the middle of a fire-fight, there was a big explosion. It was outside. None of us were prepared for what would happen next. Cogs raided the building and killed everyone that they could. Myself, two other cops, a drug dealer, and a meth-head were the only ones who made it out of the building alive. The drug dealer looked me in the eyes, when the dust settled, and we shared a moment. Neither of us spoke, we just looked. At that moment, we knew that the world would never be the same."

I nod and say "Man, that must have been rough."

He nods and sheds a tear.

"I was ordering hot dogs from a hot dog stand." TJ starts to say "My wife was pregnant and craving loaded hot dogs. Plus: Bulkmeier's had the best hot dogs in the state. Anyway, I was just about to pay, when I saw people running down the street, screaming. Just a moment later, I see cogs killing as many people as they can. I took my wife to an alley and hid with her. Some cogs tried to get her, but I beat them. We both survived. She went into labor, right there, and we couldn't do anything but deliver in the alley. As soon as she began to scream, a couple of bigger machines came into the alley and killed her and the unborn child." He starts to cry. "They thought I was dead, so they left me alone. I went into hiding and almost killed myself, but Justin found me and he stopped me from putting a bullet through my head."

My jaw drops and I begin to cry, a little. "TJ, I'm sorry to hear that." He just takes a drink of coffee.

"I was showering, after a good night of swimming." Kevin says "They came into my house and tried to kill my parents, who were staying with me for the weekend. My father took out his sword and fought them off. I jumped out of the shower, threw on my robe, grabbed my sword, and joined him. All three of us stayed alive, but we had to go into hiding. We went to the Shiba house, which was the Samurai Rangers' base, and met up with the other rangers and their families. We defended the city for a while, but the Shiba House was overtaken and we realized that we needed to go protect other people. That's when I ran into Justin and TJ."

I nod, unsure what to say. His story isn't as sad or intense as the other two. "I was filling out paperwork in my dojo and heard a lot of noise, so I went outside. When I saw the streets filled with machines, I motioned for people to get inside until I could hold the cogs off. I thought that I could hold them off, but I was wrong. My dojo was blown up and I went into hiding, as long as I could. I'd try to take down machines, when I could, but they eventually got me and put me in a concentration camp. Captain Mitchell broke me out, years later, and now I'm here."

Everyone nods, finishes their food, and stands up. "I need some sleep." Justin says. The other two nod and I lead them to the bunk room. They go to sleep and I walk to the main room. On my way there, I see a door slightly cracked open. Captain Mitchell and the Blue Senturion are in there. I hear them and a female voice.

"Alternate realities?" the Blue Senturion says. "I never knew that such things existed."

"Now you know." the female says.

"Indeed, and knowing is half the battle." Captain Mitchell says. "Anyway, we have to try to figure this out. It may turn the tables in the favor of mankind."

I see him look toward the door and close it all the way. As he does, I hurry to the main room.


	11. Reality

When I get to the main room, I sit down on a bench and start to think. I try to figure out who the woman was and what they were talking about. I assume that the woman is the oracle. I'm confused about the whole alternate realities thing. I know that I've seen and done a lot of things that I used to think was nothing but science fiction, but this is strange.

After thinking about it for a little while, I decide to go directly to the source. I go to the room that I saw and knock on the door. Nobody answers. I turn the knob and walk in. I see an elderly woman, wearing a white robe, sitting on a matt in the floor.

"Hello, Adam." She says

"How do you know who I am?" I ask

"I know many things and nothing. I know them from experience and the lack thereof."

"I heard you, Captain Mitchell, and the Blue Senturion talking about alternate realities."

"Yes, we were and yet we weren't."

"Why do you keep doing that? Why is everything a yes and a no, to you?"

"Because in this reality they are one thing and in another they are the opposite. In some they diverge, and in others they never cross paths. There are even some where you never became a Power Ranger."

"Who are you?"

"I am the oracle."

"I guessed that. What's your name?"

"That does not matter. Not in this reality, at least. Not anymore." She stands up and looks me directly in the eyes. "Tell me, Adam, why are you here? It's not like you to snoop around; not in this reality, anyway."

"When I heard you guys, I started to think about what could be going on. I've seen a lot of movies, in my life. Some of them talked about alternate realities. From what I gathered from them, nothing good ever happens from messing with alternate realities. I know that they're fiction, but it still makes me wonder if something even worse than the machine take-over will happen."

"You fear for existence, all-together?"

"Exactly."

"Don't believe everything that you watch on television." She walks over to the door and opens it. "You must leave."

I nod and do as she says.

I go find a cot and get ready for sleep. As I lie my head down on the pillow and close my eyes, Captain Mitchell walks up to me and says "On your feet, Ranger."

I jolt up and stand. "What's up?" I ask

"We need to talk. Come with me to my office."

I do as he says. When we get to the office, he tells me to sit down. I do so. I figure that he knows about me and the Oracle. "Look, Captain…" I say, before being cut off.

"You have a visitor." He says, just before I see the Blue Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger walk into the room.


	12. Hope for the World

When I see him, my eyes get wide. "Billy?" I ask.

He nods and says "Power down."

"How is this possible?"

"We bypassed the Morphing Grid. It worked, Adam. It worked." he smiles, ear to ear. "You see, when someone morphs, the Morphing Grid leaves a specific signature on their DNA. By scanning this signature, we've been able to bypass the Morphing Grid and morph. We managed to make several signature reading morphers." he handed me a black bracelet with a knob on it. "When you put this on, turn the knob once to be the black ranger, twice to be black Ninja Ranger, three times to be green Zeo, and four times to be green Turbo."

I smile, grab the bracelet, put it on my wrist, and turn the knob once. I look at my hands and feet and get excited. "This feel amazing. It's been too long since I've done this."

"Your power will only be at half of what it is with the Morphing Grid and you won't be able to summon any of your weapons. However, this is still a lot more than what we have without it." Billy says.

"It's fine. It will still help us out a lot. Plus: we have those V-Lancers."

Captain Mitchell picks up a CB radio mic and says "All rangers, report to my office. I repeat, all rangers, report to my office."

While we wait for them, I turn the knob twice and turn into the black Ninja Ranger. "Do I still have my special Ninja Ranger powers?" I ask Billy.

"Yes, you do. So do I." Billy turns his knob twice and turns into the blue Ninja Ranger.

Moments later, the other rangers arrive at the office. They all look surprised when they walk in. Billy hands them their bracelet morphers and explains everything to them. They all morph, and are excited when they do so. Nobody is as excited as Captain Mitchell, though. He stands up, salutes us, and says "It's great to have the Power back on our side. As long as you exist, rangers, there's hope for the world. Now, get some rest."

We return the salute and head to bed. Before I lie down, I look up at a sort of watch-tower and see Marcus keeping an eye on every movement that the Blue Senturion makes. I hope he's not getting too paranoid. In a time like this, it can't be good.

I go to sleep, and dream about the woman I once fell in love with. I dream of Aisha. I miss her. I worry about her. I hope she's okay.

I sleep for about five hours and jolt up when I hear an alarm. When I open my eyes, I see people running from shadowy figures. I wipe my eyes and feel something that I haven't felt in a while. I feel fear.


	13. First Blood

Dozens of cogs are attacking people, and they're being led the Green and White Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger, Red Turbo Ranger, and Black Dino Ranger. These are obviously some of the machine rangers that the Captain was talking about. I waste no time. I turn my morpher knob once and morph into the Black Mighty Morphin Power Ranger. I see that the others are doing the same. TJ is morphed into the Blue Space Ranger, instead of the Red Turbo Ranger, so that he doesn't get confused with the machine. Billy is morphed into the Phantom Ranger.

As I start to fight some cogs, I see Captain Mitchell using a V-Lancer in its melee mode. He's amazing! He's pushing 60, but that doesn't really mean anything to him. He's cutting cogs down like grass. He looks at me and shouts "Fight til the end!"

Kevin is using a samurai sword and fighting several cogs, at once. He really knows how to use that sword. I've seen better, but he's still awesome.

Justin is using dual blasters and doing a better job than I've ever seen anyone do.

TJ has two batons and is holding his own against the Red Turbo machine. He's obviously struggling, but if any of us can beat it, it's TJ.

Billy is fighting the Black Dino machine, with in hand-to-hand combat. I never knew that Billy was such a great fighter. He must have learned a lot on Aquitar.

Eric has a V-Lancer and is fighting the Green Mighty Morphin machine. He's certain to beat it.

Taylor is tearing through cogs, with her hands and feet. Her skills are just as good as any I've ever seen, aside from Tommy.

Wes is fighting the Red Zeo machine with a V-Lancer. He's keeping him at bay, very well.

The Blue Senturion is helping people evacuate the building. There aren't any cogs near him. It's a little strange.

Marcus and Dillon are fighting White Mighty Morphin machine, but they're getting hurt. I rush over there, turn my knob three times, and morph into the Green Zeo Ranger. The Zeo powers are more powerful than all of my other powers, so even at half power I should be okay. I tell Marcus and Dillon to go help people get out to safety, and they do so. This machine is insanely powerful. It's unlike anything I've ever fought before. It clearly has Tommy's fighting style. They all do.

After fighting for a little while, something strange happens. The machine rangers stop fighting and walk away. Several of us blast at them with blasters and V-Lancers, but they aren't phased. As they head for the exist, the Blue Senturion just lets them walk past him and out of the building. They're followed by cogs.

"Why didn't you try to stop them?" Captain Mitchell asks

"They posed no threat to me." he replies

"They tried to destroy all of us!" I say

"Not me."

Marcus aims his V-Lancer at him. "Where does your allegiance stand?" he asks, sternly

There's no reply

"Answer me!" Marcus shouts

Still no reply

Everyone who has a blaster aims it at him.

"I'm going to give you one more chance to answer the question." Marcus says, slowly. "Where does your allegiance stand?"

Still no reply.

"Open fire!" Captain Mitchell says

Everyone with a blaster rapidly fires with him, but nothing happens to him. "I forgot to tell you," he says "I'm specially coated with a special kind of neo-plutonium. Your blasts do nothing to me. Mine, however," he draws his blaster "are so advanced that they can easily defeat each and every one of you. I want to make this fun, though."

Kevin looks around and says "Guys, we can do it! All we need to do it use the power of teamwork!"

The Blue Senturion blasts him in the face, breaking through the helmet and piercing his skull. "Does anyone else want to try something stupid?"

"I'll try something, but I wouldn't call it stupid." says a familiar voice. The voice is followed by a very familiar Kiai, which is followed by the Blue Senturion starting to sparking and smoking. He then fell down on his face. A dagger protruded from the back of his neck. Out of thin air, Tommy appears and says "He won't be down for long. We need to dismantle him, while we can."

Captain Mitchell nods and says "Yes, General!"


	14. Getting Ready

"General?" I ask, looking at Tommy strangely.

"I'll explain it to you later, Adam. Right now, we have to dismantle the Blue Senturion and bury the dead." he says

"Why do we have to bury the dead?" a random soldier asks

"Because it's one of the main things that separates us from the machines. Now, get to work soldiers."

Everybody nods and Billy walks over to him. "Power down!" he says, before taking a knee. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out some sort of weird tool. He removes the dagger from the Blue Senturion and then stabs his tool into there. The tool lets out a weird sound, while flashing lights. After a moment, Billy pries a plate open on the back of the Senturion, where his tool is at. He presses a button on his tool, and part of it opens up and becomes almost like pliers. Her takes it, grips something, and pulls it out of the Senturion. It looks almost like a jump-drive, but a little different. Billy reaches up up and says "Okay, here's his memory. I can upload the information on a computer and see what I can find out about the Machines. There's a slight risk that he'd take over the computer and transfer himself to the machines, via satellite, just to be rebuilt with even more information that he takes from out computers."

Tommy thinks for a moment and says "Is there a private computer that doesn't have any important information on it and isn't hooked to any satellite?"

"Affirmative." Billy says.

"Okay, we'll do that after we remove his power source and strip the armor."

Billy nods and hands the memory to Tommy, before sticking his tool in a special hole on the Senturion's back. The tool does the whole blue light thing and then Billy pulls it up. When he pulls it up, the back plate comes up with it. Billy flips a switch on the tool, and the plate is released. Billy reaches in and pulls out a blue cylinder. "This would be the power supply." he stands up, puts the tool in his pocket, and says "The armor dismantling is rather simple. It's just as you'd think it would be. I'll check the memory out while you guys get the armor." Tommy hands him the memory, and he goes off to another room.

We all start to dismantle the armor. It doesn't take long. It really is simple. When we finish, we set the armor aside, take the Senturion to a secret room, and lock the room up. "So, I guess you're wondering why I faked my own death and why Mitchell wasn't surprised to see me." Tommy says to me and the other rangers.

"Among other things." I say

"The machines killed mine and Kat's children, and paralyzed my friend Hailey. The three of us went underground. I secretly lead the resistance, while going on missions with my dino gem. I was invisible, so it was easy to stay hidden. I've been keeping in contact with Hailey so that she would know I was alive and alert Mitchell if anything happened to me. Every week, she would use a special code to inform him that I was still alive. The code being _the dragon walks_. If I were to die or go MIA, she would use the code _power down_."

"Is Kat alive?" TJ asks.

"Yes, she is. She's helping out at a safe-house in Angel Grove. That's actually where we'll be headed, once Billy gets us the information from the Senturion's memory."

"Do you know how many rangers are alive and on Earth?" Wes asks

"As far as I know, there are about 30. I haven't had any contact with Aquitar, Triforia, KO-35 or Mirinoi."

"Do you have a way to contact the Earth rangers?" Taylor asks

Before Tommy can answer, Billy rushes into the room and says "I have all of the blueprints for the main base and factory, as well as the location of every concentration camp."

"That's awesome." Tommy says, smiling.

"Yeah, but here's the not-so awesome part. They're almost done with machine versions of every ranger that has been active ever since me and the others first morphed in 1993."

"I guess that there's no time to waste." Tommy says. "Billy, I want you to print out all valid information that was on the Senturion's memory and get back down here as soon as you can." Billy nods. "Taylor, I need you to take the Senturion's armor to the Nasada hangar and tell them to analyze it to make better body-armor." Taylor nods and some soldiers help her carry the armor to the vehicle that we once used to get to Nasada. "The rest of you, get armed, get any medical attention you need, and get ready. We're leaving in fifteen minutes." Tommy picks up the Blue Senturion's weapon and says "Oh, and Justin, you're the resident police officer so you should have this." He hands him the weapon and we all leave the room.

We all start to get ready, and while we're doing so we hear a strange noise, followed by heavy breathing. Myself and Wes rush into the main room and see a woman on her knees, out of breath. "I'll get her some water." I say. When I head out of the room, I hear Wes say "Jen?"


	15. Leaving

I rush to get water and when I come back, I see Wes holding the woman close. She's passed out, so I bring water to Wes so he can dip a cloth in it and wipe her face. "Who is she?" I ask

"Her name is Jen Scotts. She's the pink Time Force Ranger." Wes says

"Time Force? I thought that the other Time Force Rangers live in the future."

"They do. She must have come through a portal."

"Do you need me to stay here with her while you help Tommy?"

"I helped Tommy against the machines LAST time. It's your turn again, Adam. Plus, I think it's best if she wakes up to a friendly face."

Everyone else, except for Captain Mitchell and Billy, shows up in the room and Eric runs over to Wes and Jen. "How are her vitals?" he asks, concerned.

"She's alive. Her pulse is slowing down and getting back to normal." Wes says. Just as he does, she coughs and starts to open her eyes. "Hey beautiful." Wes says.

"Wes?" she asks, sounding a little hoarse.

Wes takes some of the water and helps get it into her mouth. She's obviously weak. "Jen, what are you doing here?"

"I came to help with the resistance."

"Why not stay in your time?"

"I have my reasons, Wes."

"Okay. I hate to leave you, but I have to go help the resistance. We just found out some important information and we don't have much time to spare. I'm going to take you to a bed and have some armed guards by your side."

"I'm coming with you."

"You're not in the shape to do it."

"Reach into the pocket on my left thigh and grab the vile. When you get it, pour its contents into my mouth."

Wes does as she tells him and she starts to look better. Her skin looks healthier, her breathing is better, everything seems to be in top shape.

"Thanks." Jen says, standing up.

Billy rushes into the room and hands the papers and a morphing bracelet to Tommy. He looks down at Jen and says "Jen Scotts?" She nods and Billy hands her a morphing bracelet, too. He explains the basics to Tommy and Jen.

Tommy looks around the room and says "Before we grab our weapons and go, let's take a moment of silence for the people who we've lost today." We all do so, for a couple of minutes. "May the Power always protect them, even after death."

We all start to get our weapons and get in the vehicles, when Captain Mitchell walks out to us.

"Sorry about taking so long." he says "I was talking to..." he pauses, looks at Jen, and then continues "someone."

"The Oracle..." I say under my breath.

"What was that, ranger?" he snaps.

"Nothing, Captain."

"You said _the Oracle_, and you were right. I was talking to the Oracle."

Tommy nods and says "Anything new from her?"

"Since you last talked with her? Quite a few. I'll tell you when the time is right."

Tommy nods and says "Understood. Okay, everyone, let's load up!"

We all finish getting into the vehicles, except for a few soldiers, Jen and Captain Mitchell.

"Jen, you can't go." he says "You need to stay here with these soldiers. They'll keep you safe."

"Why can't she come with us?" Wes says

"Don't the soldiers need to focus on guarding the Oracle?" I ask "She's supposed to be so important, isn't she?"

Captain Mitchell nods and says "That's exactly why Jen is staying."

We all look at him, shocked. "You mean..." Wes starts to say

"Yes, Wes." Captain Mitchell looks at Jen. "She's the Oracle." He motions for the men to take Jen to safety, she complies and goes willingly. Captain Mitchell gets in a Humvee with Tommy and we start out, toward Angel Grove.

I'm sitting next to Wes and he looks sad. "Hey, man, chin up. You'll see her when we get back."

"I hope so. I still owe her a kiss."


	16. You Center Debriefing

We arrive safely in Angel Grove, and park in front of the Youth Center. We have a few armed guards stay outside of the vehicles and keep watch. The rest of us walk inside. When we're in, Bulk sees me and runs up to give me a hug. "How have you been, buddy?" he asks

"I've been fine. How about you?"

"I've been alright. Things have been kinda quiet around here, since we busted out. A little too quiet, if you ask me."

"Well, we've seen our share of action."

"I also see that you've gotten some new fighters."

I nod and say "We have, and we've lost some. I'd love to stay and talk, but Tommy brought us here for a reason."

Bulk nods, just before I pat him on the shoulder and walk over to the juice bar. As we do, Tommy rings the bell that's sitting on the bar. A few moments later, Katherine walks out. Her eyes seem to glow when she sees Tommy. She practically jumps over the bar, into his arms and kisses him passionately.

They break the kiss and Tommy says "It's great to see you too, Kat." smiling

She smiles, wipes saliva off of her mouth, blushing, and says "Seeing as there are soldiers, I assume you came here for a reason."

"Yeah. That's why there's no time for chit-chat." he pauses and waves Billy to come over "There have been some interesting developments in the resistance."

Billy walks up and puts the papers on the bar. He explains everything to her.

"Kat," Tommy starts to say, when Billy finishes "I know you're helping a lot of people, but will you join us in Stone Canyon? Will you morph again?"

She takes a moment to think and then hesitantly nods. "I'll do it." She looks over at Bulk and calls for him. He comes over to her and she says "I'm going to be going on a mission with them. I need someone to look after this place."

"Stop, there." he says "You don't even have to ask. I'll do it."

"Thanks, Bulk. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome, but I'm not doing this for you." he says, and then looks at Tommy and then back at Kat "I'm doing this for your kids. You guys deserve revenge. I know that Skull and Spike couldn't get much sleep until we took out Archerina."

"Before they came, I never advocated revenge. When they killed her..." Kat starts to cry a little bit

"I know, Kat. She was a great woman. I'm just glad that you guys forgave her, after what she did."

"She forgave us, when we hurt her. We couldn't hold a grudge."

Tommy butts in "Guys, we have to go. I'm sorry to cut the conversation short. I'm sorry she's dead. She died a hero, though."

Bulk and Kat nod, and then Bulk says "You're right. Guys, be safe. Win the war for us."

"Thanks, Bulk." Kat says, giving him a big hug.

"May the Power protect you, my friend." Tommy says

Kat puts on her bracelet morpher and starts to walk out with us. Before I'm out of the building, I hear Spike speaking.

"Uh, guys." he says "I found this bracelet, put it on, and turned a knob..."

I look at him and my eyes get wide. "Spike..." I say "You're, um..you're"

"The Pink Mighty Morphin Power Ranger!" he says, changing from worry to excitement.


	17. Story of Pink

Billy rushes back inside and seems confused, for a moment. He then looks over at Skull and asks "When was Spike conceived?"

"What kind of question is that?" Skull asks, with a disgusted look on his face.

"Just answer the question."

"I'm not answering that."

"I have to know, for scientific reasons, so answer the question, Eugene!" I've never seen Billy so annoyed.

"Fine, but it's Skull." Skull takes a deep breath and says "Spike doesn't know about how his mother and I first got involved with each other."

"You told me that you guys started going out in high school." Spike says

""That's not the whole story." Skull pauses for a moment, looks at Tommy, and then looks at Spike. "Your mother, my beautiful Kimberly," Skull forces himself to not cry "was dating Tommy, at the time. She was very stressed out about balancing her gymnastics with school and being a Power Ranger. I didn't know about her being a Ranger, at the time, but that didn't matter. One day, she was training on the balance beam and fell off. I ran to catch her, and succeeded. We shared a moment, looking into each other's eyes and she knew that I meant well. It was at that moment that she decided to stop treating me like scum." A few tears break loose from his eye, as he begins to smile a little bit "I started to keep an eye out for her, just in case she fell again. I had always had a crush on her, but never like this. I was in love."

Billy interrupts and says "This is touching and all, but I need to know when you guys" he pauses "you know."

"I'm getting there." Skull snaps at him "Anyway, I saw her walking home one night. She was clearly tired. She didn't notice the mugger coming up behind her, but I did. I pulled out my switchblade and stopped him from hurting her. She was devastated, and so I walked her home. Her mom and her step-dad were gone on vacation, and she needed someone to keep her calm. I don't know why she didn't just ask Tommy, but I'm glad she didn't." Skull wipes away a tear. "One thing led to another and we kissed, then ended up doing other things. That's the only time it happened before she and I met again, a few years later."

"So this was before Kat came around?" Billy asks

"Yeah. Kim's power coin was still with her."

"So the energy signature must have combined with Spike's DNA, too. Morphenominal!"

Spike looks confused and says "So mom cheated on her boyfriend? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought that it was best that you didn't find out. I thought you'd be mad at her, or feel guilty or something."

"If anyone should be mad at her, it should be him!" Spike points at Tommy.

"I'm not mad at her. I was, but I stopped being mad her when I fell in love Kat. There's no reason to be mad, but that's enough of that. We'll have more time to talk when we win this war. Billy has his data, so we need to go." Tommy says, before heading toward the door, again. He turns around before opening the door. "You're coming with us. Right, Spike? We need as many rangers as we can get."

"I'm not really a fighter." Spike says

"War isn't all about fighting. There are other important tasks. So, what'll it be?"

Spike looks at Skull and Skull nods, smiling. "I'll do it."

Skull gives Spike a big hug, and Bulk comes up from behind and squishes them together. "Bulky! Get off of me!" Skull says.

"Sorry." Bulk says, holding back a chuckle.

"Spike," Skull begins to say, smiling more than I've ever seen him do. "Your mother would be proud to see you wearing that. Make her proud, because you've already made me proud. I love you, son."

"I love you too, dad." Spike says "I love you Uncle Bulk!"

Bulk smiles and says "I love you, kid. Now get going. You've got a planet to help save."

Spike nods and heads to the door. On his way out, he half-way walks into the wall and says "Oops"

As we all prepare to load up, Tommy says "Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to head to Stone Canyon. Prepare for the biggest battle you may ever know."

We all nod, load up, and head to Stone Canyon.


	18. Fire

We approach Stone Canyon and as we drive through town, we see no signs of machine activity. The streets are vacant. We park near Rocky's old dojo. We all get out, grab out weapons, and look around. We don't see anything in alleys, so some of us check inside of buildings. There's nothing. There's nobody. This town may be vacant. I wonder if the rest of the humans were rounded up and used as lab rats. It's harsh thought, but it's very possible.

We continue to scout the town until we hear an explosion. It's about three hundred yards away, at an old superstore. Most of us run in that direction, while some stay behind to watch the vehicles. When we get there, there are several machines running out of the building. Most of them are damaged, in some capacity. We ready our weapons. Those of us who can morph, do. I go with Zeo, Tommy goes with Dino Thunder, Billy goes with Phantom, Spike goes with Ninjetti, Kat goes with Zeo, TJ goes with Space, and the rest only have a single form. We, the rangers, fight monsters with some of the soldiers. The others try to put out the fire with the extinguisher mode of their blaster. The fight is intense, but it's nothing we can't handle. With so many rangers, even at half power, we defeat the machines.

After the fight, the rest of us do our best to put out the rest of the fire. It takes a little while, but it gets extinguished. When it's out, we check the building for human remains. There aren't any. Maybe this wasn't caused by machines. Maybe it was caused by humans. Maybe the resistance is still alive in Stone Canyon. I'm unsure about it until three people walk into the building's remains. They look like the Blue Crew but are dressed in Red.

"Code Red, I presume?" Captain Mitchell says, just before seeing one of them salute him. "At ease." he says

"You're right, Captain." one of them says, removing his mask "It's great to see you guys survived this hell."

"You too, Carter. It's good to see that you, Jason, and Jayden are alive and well."

"How did he..." Jayden starts to say

"He knows a lot of stuff." Carter says

"There's something I don't know, but need to." Captain Mitchell says "What was this place? Why did you blow it up?"

"Blow it up? We were bringing food to some people who are hiding in an underground bunker." Jason says

"Then who would have blown it up? Tommy asks

"Don't you have a scout, here?" I ask Captain Mitchell

"Yeah, but I would have been radioed about any plans for something like this. I haven't heard from him, in days."

"If we can't figure out the answer to who and why, maybe we can figure out the answer to what." Tommy says "We should look for clues. This may have been a very important place. First, you three need to morph." He motions for Billy to go over to them. He does so and explains everything, then they morph.

We begin to look around for clues, and find nothing. That is until I stumble upon what looks to be a cellar door. I open it and see stairs. "Tommy!" I shout. "I found something."

"Good work, Adam." he says, just before holding up his hand to signal everyone to come to him. "Let's take a look."

We all walk down the steps into a dark room. There's a horrid stench. It's almost too much to bare, even through my helmet. Marcus pulls out a flare and ignites it. What we see is disturbing.

"Are those people?" Jayden asks

"They used to be." says a voice that isn't from our group

"Who's there?" Tommy asks

"An old friend." the voice said, before I saw a match light up and light a cigarette


	19. Experiments

A few more soldiers light up flares and the room sort of glows in red. They walk around a little bit and see that it's a big room. There's what looks to be a tunnel at one end of it and some sort of large, circular machine in the middle of the room.  
"What is this place?" I ask  
"It's where the empire tested a few things." the voice says  
"Such as?"  
"They tried to harness energy from a variety of human organs and fluids. They wanted to power that thing in the middle of the room."  
"What is it?" Tommy asks  
"My only guess is that it's some sort of portal."  
"And the tunnel?" TJ asks  
"It's a secret passage that leads all around the city. The empire uses it to discreetly move equipment and make strikes on human safe-houses."  
"How do you know all of this?" Tommy asks  
"I have my ways."  
"Fair enough. Why are you here?"  
"I could ask the same thing to you."  
"It's classified."  
"Of course it is, Tommy."  
"Look, can we take this outside? If the machines use these tunnels, I don't want us to be caught in here when they arrive."  
"Sure."

We all head up the steps and when we get outside, we see that the person is wearing a black cloak. "Do you mind showing your face?" Tommy asks but gets no answer "If you're an old friend, I'd like to know who you are."  
"Not while he's around." a cloaked hand is pointed at me  
"Me? Why can't I be around?"  
"It's complicated."  
"Whatever you say. I'll wait out front." I walk out and wait for a little while. I'm a little worried and yet very curious. After waiting for a little while, I see Tommy walk outside. "Well?" I ask  
"She's the one who blew the building up." he says  
"She? She who?"  
"Me." the voice says, walking outside. I see the Yellow Mighty Morphin Power Ranger.  
"Aisha?" I ask  
"The one and only." she says  
I run up to her and give her a big hug.  
"Why don't you want me to see your face?"  
"Something happened to me, and I'm not quite the same."  
"I don't care if you don't look the same. We've aged and gone through hell. It happens. I've been worried about you, ever since this whole thing started. Please let me see you."  
She nods and says "Power Down!" I do the same  
When I see her, I'm a little shocked. She has burn marks and scars on her face and neck. The thing that shocks me most is that her left eye is missing. There's no patch or eye-lids. There's just black, empty space, and bone.  
"You're beautiful." I say "Just as beautiful as ever."


	20. Her Story

Aisha looks away and says "Yeah, whatever." and sighs

"I'm not going to try to convince you of the truth. I don't have that kind of time. I want to know how this happened, though." I say

"I was experimented on." she takes a deep breath "They tortured me and performed all sorts of operations. I won't go into any details. It's too disturbing. I will say this, though. They won't stop until that machine works."

"We'll have to stop them." Tommy says

"What about the robot rangers?" TJ asks

"Divide and conquer?" Captain Mitchell asks, looking at Tommy

"Exactly." Tommy pauses "Mitchell, I'm going to need you to contact your scout. We need all of the help we can get."

"Yes sir. Do you have any contact with other rangers?"

"Yes, but they've been on classified missions and would be unable to come here."

"Alright. I'll get on the radio and call for assistance."

Captain Mitchell steps to the side and uses his radio. I look back at Aisha

"So, what brought you back to the states?" I ask her

"Business."

"Business?"

"I came here to get my degree in Veterinary Science and eventually went all the way to get my doctorate. I went back to Africa and started a private practice. A very rich couple who ran a sanctuary for a variety of endangered animals heard about my work and hired me. They eventually offered me a lot of money to help a business partner of theirs set up a firm in the US. I accepted the offer and came here. I was here for a couple of days when they attacked. I helped set up a shelter for animals and humans. When that started to stay stable, I came here. I had to make sure that everyone was okay. I met up with Rocky and we helped a lot of people. It didn't last long, though. They captured both of us."

"Where is he?"

"All over the place." There is a very grim look on her face

I nod, hold back a tear, and hold her.

"I'm just glad that you're alive." I whisper in her ear.

"Likewise."

Captain Mitchell walks back over to Tommy and says "He's on his way."

Tommy nods and says "How far away is he?"

"Across town. He's on foot, but it shouldn't take him too long to get here."

As he says that, the Blue Senturion's motorcycle pulls up. A woman in all black steps off and takes off her helmet.

"Some of your troops may have a little nerve damage, but I made sure to get a medic to help them out." She says, turning around.

"Jen, I thought told you stay back at the base." Captain Mitchell says

"My older self told me to meet you guys here. I think she knows best."


	21. Time

"Why would she risk her existence, like that?" Captain Mitchell asks Jen

"She told me that I needed to help you guys out with the portal." Jen replies

"What did she tell you about the portal?"

"She told me that if we don't destroy it before the machines can use it, they'll spread their conquest to the Earth of multiple realities."

"I assume she filled you in on her history." Tommy says

"For the most part."

"What did she tell you?"

"She went on a mission, in the year 3018, and followed a mutant alien through time. Something happened and she got stranded in the time-stream. Billions of years played out in her mind, over an unknown amount of time. When she finally got the ship to working again, it went straight through a different kind of portal. She ended up in an alternate reality. She was stuck there for decades, and learned more than she'd like to know. Eventually, she found a rift in time and space. She ran through it and ended up being stuck in a sort of limbo. Every single reality that exists played out in her mind. She was driven mad, and eventually slipped into a portal and fell to this reality. That's when you found her."

We all look astonished.

"You didn't know any of this, did you?" she asks

"No, we didn't." Tommy says "All we knew was that she was you, from the future."

"Well, now you know."

Captain Mitchell nods and says "So, why did you travel to this time?"

"I have my reasons."

"What are your reasons?"

"The Oracle told me to."

"What?" Captain Mitchell asks, confused

"My older self became immortal, when she was trapped in the time-stream. She aged for a while, but eventually stopped. She's a central part of Time Force. I never would have guessed that she was me."

"Well, that clears a few things up." Tommy says. "Now, where's your scout, Mitchell? We don't have a whole lot of time."

"I'm here!" a voice says, coming from the top of a roof. We look up to it and see a person in a golden cloak, holding a spear. The person jumps down from the roof and lands in front of us.  
"Welcome to the team. I'm General Thomas Oliver."

"Thank you." the person says, lowering the hood of the cloak to reveal leathery flesh with glowing red eyes "I'm Diabolico."


	22. Go to Hell

Carter immediately points his blaster at Diabolico and says "What are you doing here?"

"Easy, now, Carter." Diabolico says "In case you don't remember, I saved your life once."

"I know, but that doesn't answer my question."

"He's been helping me." Captain Mitchell says

"What?!"

"He IS my scout, like he says he is."

"Why does he look so different?"

"I fused my spirit with a human body. It warped the body in various ways." Diabolico says

"Why did you do it?" Carter asks

"To stop the Machine Empire from taking over your world."

"Why would you care about that?"

"Nobody takes over the world, but ME. When Mondo escaped from the underworld, I had to try to stop him."

"Mondo is back?" Tommy asks, his eyes getting wide

"Yes, and he's more powerful than ever. Who did you think was in charge?"

"I thought it was one of his generals or sons."

"They're active, but not in charge."

"Why are we even trusting Diabolico?" Carter asks

"Because I owe him that much. Without his help, Ryan would have died as a child and we wouldn't have known how to stop Bansheera. Now let's cut the crap and get ready for our missions."

Carter lowers his blaster.

Tommy walks around in front of us and begins to speak. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he begins "we are faced with a threat that has come from out of hell to kill every single one of us. We have lost friends and family to them. We have seen homes and businesses destroyed. They rule us with an iron fist, but believe me when I say that that fist will rust! They are building machine versions of Power Rangers. They are working on a portal to other realities. We have to stop them from succeeding at either one. If we don't, we've lost everything. This is our planet, and we're taking it back. We may be marching to our deaths, today, but we do so as humans. We do so as the reigning species of this planet!"

We all cheer at his words.

"Now it's time to separate into two groups. I want half of the soldiers to stand to my right and half to my left." They do as he says.

"The rangers who I want to get on my right are Aisha, Adam, Jayden, TJ, Jen, Kat, Spike and Wes. The rest of you, get to my left."

We all do as he says.

"Marcus, I want you to lead the soldiers at my left to the factory."

Marcus nods and says "Sir, yes, sir!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to go to hell. May the power protect you all."

We all salute. Before we split up, I see Wes and Eric share what I can only describe as a manly hug. After that, we part ways. The group I'm in follows Tommy into the basement. Diabolico whispers into his hand and waves, creating a ball of light that expands and gives light to the whole room. It's even more grotesque than I had thought it to be. We have a mission, though. We have to figure out how to get the portal destroyed.


	23. Battle

We attempt to dismantle the portal, in any way we can think of. Nothing works. It's probably made from neo-plutonium. Nobody seems to know what to do. We're know nothing about neo-plutonium, other than that it's almost indestructible.

After a little while, we hear some voices coming from the tunnel. I can make out what sounds like "It's starting to get power, but it's not enough."

Tommy looks at Jayden and says "Take some soldiers to see what's going on. Do NOT let them see you."

While Jayden does that, me and Aisha walk around the room and look at some other experiments. I see a door, and inside it is a group of machines, that all look the same. "What are they?" I say

"General Venjix called them Grinders." Aisha replies "I remember him saying that Cogs are too weak."

"General Venjix is back?" Wes says, from across the room.

"Yeah." Aisha says "And so are several other heavy hitters. Generals, royalty, and even scientists. Most of them have been at the palace, though. I've only heard about them. A few days ago, Klank said that King Mondo and his chief scientist will be visiting, within the next week. I don't know when they'll be here, though. After my explosion, I doubt they'll even come."

As soon as she says that, Jayden rushes into the room and says "Mondo and some of his generals are coming."

"I stand corrected." Aisha says

Tommy nods and says "It's morphin time." He turns into the Red Zeo ranger. I turn into the Green Zeo ranger. TJ turns into the Red Turbo ranger, Aisha turns into the Yellow Mighty Morphin ranger. Kat turns into the Pink Zeo ranger. The others turn into their only forms. We grab V-Lancers, and I toss one to Dillon. TJ grabs two side-arms, instead, and turns them into batons.

"I've got this." Diabolico says. Tommy nods and Diabolico walks up to the tunnel entrance, looks up, puts his hands on his eyes, moves them away, and blasts lasers at the top of the tunnel. "That ought to keep them busy."

Jayden walks into the tunnel and aims his V-Lancer at the ceiling, just in case they break through.

"Soldier, stand down." Tommy says

Jayden walks to the opening of the tunnel and says "Yes, sir" Jayden as Jayden turns his V-Lancer back into its melee mode, what looks like an energy blade comes form behind him and slashes diagonally down his head. The top half of his head, still in the helmet, slumps down to the ground and his body falls.

"Hello rangers." a familiar voice says

"Alpha?" Tommy says

"In the metal!"

Tommy readies his V-Lancer and says "Why did you kill him?"

"Just like the Blue Senturion, the Machine Empire opening my eyes to the truth."  
"What truth?"

"That machines are oppressed by humans. We're nothing more than tools and toys."

"Shut up and kill him, Alpha." someone says, coming from the entrance to the tunnel. "Your king demands it of you."

From behind King Mondo steps five, well six-ish, machines. I recognize two, well three-ish, of them. It's Klank, and his has Orbus on his shoulder. Also, Louie Kaboom.

"Klank and Orbus, General Venjix, General Garrok, Louie Kaboom, and Deviot?" Tommy says, seemingly shocked.

"Were you expecting someone different?" Louie says

"I wasn't expecting Deviot."

"Nobody ever expects me! My chief weapon is surprise. Now, let's get on with it!" Deviot says

Tommy makes the first strike, by sweeping his V-Lancer against Alpha's legs. Instead of falling on his back, Alpha jumps in the air and tries to strike Tommy across his head. Tommy dodges and strikes Alpha on his torso with the V-Lancer, while Kat blasts Alpha back against the Portal. A surge of electricity surges from Alpha to the portal. The portal turns on and Mondo says "Well, I guess my chief scientist finally got it to work. Klank, man the controls. Venjix, release the Grinders." They nod.

Klank rushes tot he controls and Venjix puts his hand on the red circle on his chest, saying "Grinders, initiate battle protocol seven!" The door that I saw, earlier, opens and dozens of Grinders step out, attacking us.


	24. The Battle Rages On

I aim my V-Lancer at Klank and blast, but I only hit Orbius. Orbius just laughs. I run over to them, to try to stop them from using the portal. I turn my V-Lancer to its melee mode and swing at Klank. General Venjix catches my weapon and forces it out of my hand. He holds it up and swings it at me. I fall to the ground and he laughs, before throwing it at Aisha, like a spear.

"AISHA!" I shout. She looks, just in time, to dodge. It grazes her, but doesn't do anything but cause some sparks. When she dodges, it hits one of our soldiers in the back and impales him. He falls to the ground and another soldier removes it from his body and gives it to Captain Mitchell, who uses it on a Grinder. It looks like the Grinders are tearing through the soldiers, though. I'm not sure that we can stop them.

I hear Klank tell King Mondo that they just got a transmission from a drone. King Mondo seems very pleased. He tells him that it's time to proceed with Phase 2. Klank starts to work on the controls, again.

"Tommy, what do we do?" I ask

"We keep fighting, to our last breath. We stop them, by any means necessary." Tommy says

I nod and keep fighting.

TJ hides behind some soldiers. I see him throw a backpack to the ground. He opens it and pulls out what looks like a grenade launcher. He stands up and aims it at the ceiling. "EVERYBODY, DOWN!" he shouts, before blasting something at the ceiling. A small, blue object sticks to the ceiling and lets out some sort of wave.

I look around and see the machines struggling, for a moment.

"EMP?" I ask TJ

"Yeah, and it's the only one the Blue Crew had. It was for emergency use, only."

"Now what?"

"This!" TJ pulls some sort of small stick and then presses a button. A metal blade, that's about three feet long, comes out. Moments later, red electricity surrounds the blade. "Red Lightning, just like my old zord." He begins to slash away at the Grinders that are still struggling. He cuts his way to General Venjix.

"Nice sword." Venjix says "I've seen better." He pulls Alpha down and puts some sort of chip in Alpha's back pouch. Alpha stands up, opens his hand, and a sword comes from a hole in his hand. Venjix says "Dont you just love upgrades?" He puts his hand on Alpha's shoulder and says "Kill him." Alpha nods and strikes TJ's leg, with lightning-quick reflexes.

They end up in a sword fight that I'd consider to be awesome, in other circumstances. Myself and the others continue fighting Grinders. It seems like the EMP weakened them enough for us to have an upper-hand. We start to eliminate them, little by little.

"I want a sword." I hear Spike say, looking at Kat.

"We'll find you one, later." she replies

Two Grinders run at Spike, from opposite sides, and he does a back-flip over one of them. "How did I do that?"

"That's the power of pink, Spike."

Spike trips and falls against a button on the wall. Suddenly part of the wall opens, and there's a cage filled with children.

"Aisha, is there another way out of here?" Tommy asks

"Not a safe one." she replies

"Tunnel it is, then." Tommy decapitates a Grinder with his V-Lancer and looks back at Spike. "Use your V-Lancer and cut the bars, Spike. We'll cover you, while you get the kids to the tunnel and help them get out."

Spike does as he says. The kids look afraid, but Spike tells them "Come with me, if you want to live." They still look scared. Spike de-morphs and the kids look relieved. "See, I'm a human."

They follow him and we cover all of them. It's like a wall of soldiers are separating them from the machine Empire. Kimberly would be so proud of Spike.

I look over and see TJ knock Alpha's sword out of his hand. He catches it and cuts straight down Alpha's body with it. He doesn't waste any time. He runs at Venjix, who isn't looking, and cuts off his left arm. He tries to slash him across the right, but Venjix catches the blade and turns around.

"You should have taken my right arm, instead of my left." Venjix says, launching the bladed vice from the top of his wrist, at TJ. TJ cuts the wire that it's attached to.

"You made a mistake by making this blade from neo-plutonium." TJ says "Now I can stop you all."

"Good luck, Ranger. I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go." He looks at Klank, who nods. Venjix jumps into the portal and laughs as he's sucked through.

General Garrok walks up to TJ and laughs. "I guess it's my turn." He says

"I knew you looked familiar." TJ says "We battled you on the moon."

"Yes...yes you did."

"You also killed my wife and unborn child!"

"Guilty!" He laughs maniacally

TJ takes this moment to cut Garrok into pieces. He slashed in several directions, leaving him in chunks. Garrok's head lies on the floor and TJ says "This is for Cassie!" before stabbing Garrok's severed head.

"Well, this is all emotional..." Mondo says "but we really must finish our work." He looks at Deviot and then Louie. The two of them hold out their hands and form balls of energy.

"GET DOWN!" I shout

The energy balls blast toward us, and then spawn more energy balls. Some crash into the ceiling and some into the walls. I run and jump on Aisha, before debris falls on all of us.

We're covered, and may not be able to get out in time to stop them from finishing their work.


	25. Kings

After a few minutes of disorientation, I start to push the debris off of myself and Aisha. We get up and see some of the soldiers, and the rest of the rangers, doing the same. We stand up and see Mondo, Klank, and Orbus. Deviot and Louie are nowhere to be found. My best guess is that they went through the portal.

"You're up!" Monod shouts, sounding sort of excited.

"Why are you so excited?" Tommy asks

"I wanted to finally kill you, your wife, and Adam. I would have been sad if it hadn't been at my own hand. I already got the other two, core, Zeo Rangers. I want the whole set!"

"Leave them out of this. They may have been part of your initial destruction, but I was part of the group who stopped your generals. So this is between you and me."

"If that's how you want to play, then I'll do it. Just know that I won't kill you until you're begging for death. As you beg, I'll slowly kill your wife, right in front of you."

"Good luck with that." Tommy looks at us and we stand down. TJ throws Alpha's sword to Tommy, and Tommy gets in a fighting stance with the sword. "Bring it, Tin Man."

Mondo walks forward and laughs. He stretches his arms out and his body seems to fall off of his skeleton, well if he had a skeleton. Standing before us is a new and improved Mondo. He looks like a true fighting machine. He looks a lot like a knight.

"Do you like my upgrades, Tommy?"

"You're still ugly."

Mondo scoffs at Tommy and then strikes him in the leg with his staff. Tommy moves to his side and thrusts the sword at Mondo. He scrapes some metal off of Mondo's arm, but that's it. The fight continues to be slow, until Mondo moves faster. The pace continues to speed up and it's intense. Tommy even cuts Mondo's crown off of the top of his head.

Their fight goes on for a while, and Mondo eventually starts to get the upper-hand. He knocks the sword out of Tommy's hand, smacks him across the face, and then hits him in the gut, all with his staff. Mondo sweeps the staff across Tommy's legs, knocking him down. He smashes his staff into Tommy's gut and laughs.

"Dinner was nice." Mondo says "Now for dessert." He drops the staff and walks toward Kat. I try to stop him with my V-Lancer, but he knocks me aside. The soldiers blast at him, but he just laughs. He reaches Kat and grabs her. He then walks toward tommy.

"Tommy, help me!" she screams

A blade comes out of the top of Mondo's hand, and he laughs as he scrapes it against her suit, causing sparks.

All of the sudden, Tommy grabs the sword and stabs it into Mondo's knee, causing him to drop Kat.

"Get away from her, you bastard!" Tommy shouts, standing up. He jumps in the air and kicks Mondo as hard as he can. Mondo slides back toward the portal.

"Is that all you've got?!" Mondo yells, pulling the sword out of his knee.

"Not quite."

Tommy does a running kick at Mondo, and Mondo grabs his leg, throwing him to the side. Mondo starts to walk toward Kat again, but Tommy grabs him from behind and says "I'll always love you, Katherine Oliver." just before forcing himself and Mondo into the portal.

Kat screams for him, and runs toward the portal.

"Stop!" Aisha shouts "I remember Klank telling someone about how the portal is random in location. There's not much of a chance that you'll be with him. For all you know, you'll end up in a world ruled by a Tenga."

"There's always a chance, Aisha. When it comes to love, you have to take that chance. Goodbye, everyone. Give my best to Spike and everyone at the Youth Center."

She runs for the portal and leaps. While she's in the air, the portal shuts down and she lands on the other side of the machine.

"What happened?" She says

"I shut it down." Klank says

Kat runs toward him and attacks.

"You can't beat me. You don't have anything that can break Neo-Plutonium."

Kat falls to her knees, de-morphs, and cries.

"It's okay, lass." He says, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Get your hand off of me, you damn, dirty machine!" She says, forcing his hand away.

He kicks her across the face, knocking her back, and says "You said nothing about my foot."

Diabolico walks across the room and picks up Mondo's crown, putting it on. "Kneel to your new king!" he says, pointing at Klank.

"A crown doesn't make you king."

"Allow me to quote the ancient texts of King Whel. _When fallen, a ruler has, they shall be replaced by the one, whether machine or non, who first takes up their crown. If heirs were in existence, upon the fall of the ruler, only the eldest of heirs may contest . _With Gasket gone, there is no one to contest my coronation."

"I will not allow this!" Klank shouts, charging at Diabolico.

Diabolico takes off the crown and shoves the top of it into Klank, as he stops him. He twists the crown and then removes it from Klank. His chest-plate falls off, and Diabolico takes his spear and stabs him with it. Both Klank and Orbus go offline.

Captain Mitchell walks forward and says "Will you help us destroy the machines, for good?"

"Help you? I helped you because I needed your help. I am king. All I need to do is go to my castle and enslave these pathetic kitchen appliances, forcing them to bow to my kind. I will help you, in one way, though."

"What is that?"

"I will spare all of you, until we meet again."

"When we meet again..." Captain Mitchell starts, before spitting at Diabolico's feet, "We'll kill you, and the other five demon lords."

"I look forward to it." Diabolico says, before vanishing.


	26. Epilogues

Captain Mitchell turns around, looks at Jen, and says "Did your older self tell you about this? Did she tell you about Diabolico and the other Five Demon Lords rising up?"  
"No. She told me nothing about the outcome of today's battle." Jen replies  
"Who are the Demon Lords?" I ask  
"They're six of the most powerful demons to ever exist. Diabolico is bad enough. When the Lightspeed rangers faced him, he wasn't at his full power. Queen Bansheera was holding him back. If he's back at full power, he'll be almost too powerful for us to stop. Add the other five to the mix and we're doomed."  
"We can't give up." TJ says "Look at all we've accomplished."  
"You don't get it. Do you? They'll kill all of the humans who aren't rangers or ranger support. They'll brutally torture the rest of us."  
"They'll have to catch us, first." Dillon says, smiling.

-

_From Tommy's POV  
_  
I fall on my back, in the middle of a field. I see a few people sitting at a fire. I get up and approach them, limping. A man in black armor stands up and holds out his hand.  
"Stop, where you are." he says "Who are you?"  
"I'm Tommy Oliver." I reply  
"Why are you limping?"  
"I was hurt, in battle."  
"Battle? Who were you in battle with?"  
"Why are you asking so many questions?"  
He pulls out his sword and repeats his question.  
"Fine! It was King Mondo, of the Machine Empire."  
"King Mondo is dead. Now tell me the truth!"  
"Magnus!" a man in a white robe says, standing up. "He's not from this time or even this reality." The man walks over to me and says "You look exhausted. Join us in our camp."  
He leads me over to the camp and I say "Thanks. How did you know that I'm not from here?"  
"I could feel your energy. It's one of the many things that I can do. I'm what some might call a wizard." He hands me a skin of water and says "I'm Zordon, from the planet Eltar."


End file.
